Wrench.



H. B. STEPHENS. l

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1.908y

943,757; Patented De@ 21; 1909.

wikmzooe l To all whom Lt may concern:

HARRY n. STEPHENS, or nLGIiv,iLL1'NoIs.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.`

Patented Dec. ,21, 1909.

Application sied November 10,1908. f 'serial No. 461,917.

Be it known that I, HARRY E. STEPHENS,

. citizen of the United States, residing at Elgin, in' the count-y ofKane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Wrenches, of which t-lie following is av specification,reference bein-g had therein to t-he accompanying drawing.

rIhis invention relates to `Wrenches, and has: iii View certainimprovements in the same whereby the nut engaging head thereof'may beset at various angles relatively to the'handle, so as to adapt the toolfor operations in corners and the like, and also means whereby the saidhead may be readily removed from the handle when necessary or desirable.

In carrying out t-he object `of the invention set forth above it iscontemplated einployiiig a ratchet on the underside Vof a pivotedsegmental head with which cooperates a spring-pressed dog for holdingsaid head in various positions relatively to said head, said dog beingso mounted in and guided by a pair of spaced apart arms provided with ahandle that'it will immediately slide to an engaging position with saidratchet when manual restraint of the saine isiremoved.V

It will be understood of course, that the essential features of theinvention are'susceptibl'e of structural changes andvariations, vbut apracticaland preferred'embodiment of the same is shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation of theimproved wrench. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the samepartially taken on the line 2--2, Fig.` 3.l Fig. 3 -is a similar viewpartially taken on tlievliiie 3-2-3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4; is a. fragnientaiyview similar to F ig. P3. Fig. .5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of thcpivot pin.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,V

it will beobserved that the handle of the improved `wrench has one endportion iiatteiied and provided with parallel rounded sides as indicatedatl which permits of the same fitting snugly in the hands of theoperator, andfiom the upper end of said iatteiied portion 1, the handledecreases in width, but increases in thickness, as indicated at 2, andfrom suoli last mentioned portion, thehandle terminates. in the out--stand ing sides between which the body of the metal is Abored out toform a longitudinally extending recess, or pocket, L1, forining aseatfor a coiled spring 5, The sides of the outstanding portions 8 3,preferably just below the upper end'of the longitudi-` nally extendingpocket, 4, have an external recess 6 formed in them, and the bottoniI ofeach of vsaid recesses 6 has a guiding notch or slot 7 out through it,said notches extending into the said pocket and forming guides foroutstanding lugs 8 of a dog 9 which is mounted in said pocket 4 upon thespring The outer end of the shouldered portion 3 terminates in spacedapart arms 10 and 10?* provided with registering pivot openings 11`which receive the ends of a pivot pin 12 of a nut-engaging head 13. Thesaid head 13 extends well down between the said arms 10' and 1()a sothat it will just clear theyen'ds thereof, and on its lower,semi-cylindrical surface, is provided with a ratchet segment 14 withwhich the teeth 15 of the springpressed dog 9'engage, as is shown inFigs. 2, 3 and Il of t-he accompanying drawings. The' outer. end of saidhead 13 has been shown as provided witha nut-engaging recess 17, but itwill Aof course be understood that, if preferred, it may be providedwith the usual recess for manipulating pipe sections, should the tool beused for such purose. p Itfwill be understood from the foregoingdescription that the head 13 is normally held in a fixed relativeposition to the handle by means of the engagement between its ratchetand the spring-pressed dog 9, and that the ratclictteeth of the head andthe dogare so Yshaped that pressure exerted on the handle in onedirection will. permit of a relative movement of saidhandle to said headin one direction, but movement in the other direction will be prevented,unless the dog is pushed down into the pocket si againstnew position tocompensate for any movement of the head when turning a nut.

In applying the head 13 to a nut or pipe section that is to be turned,the dog il is pushed down iii t0 its pocket 4 bv pressure exerted uponthe lugs 8, which oisengages the same from the ratchet teeth 14 ofthehead, whereupon the said head may be rocked upon its pivot to thedesired angle to permit its nut-engaging recess to be placed over'thenut.' When the head is in the desired position, the manual pressureupo'n the dog is removed, whereupon the pressure of the spring 5 Willcause the same to slide into engagement with the teeth of the head, andthereby lock the head and handle together.

In order that the nut-engaging head 13 may be removed from between thearms l0 and 10, one of said arms (10a) has a hinge Connection 19 withone of the outstanding sides 3 of the handle so that said arm may beswung outwardly therefrom to disengage its' pivot opening 11 from thepivot pin 12.

. a screw driver, prying tool, or the like.

It will be seen trom the foregoing that byy means of the hinged arni 10,the head 13 may be removed from between the arins 10a and 10, therebypermitting a different type of head to be substituted when necess ary ordesirable, and also greatly facilitating the cleaning of'the saine.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. A AWrench comprising a. handleprovided with a longitudinal pocket. in one end, y

arms projecting from opposite sides ot said pocket., one of said armsbeing integral with 1 said handle, the other arin having a hingeIconnection with said handle and being provided with an opening, a pivotpin earried by the integral arin and having a spring mounted on one endover which said hinged arni snaps when inaclosed position, n. springseated in .said pocket, a dog mounted on said spring and adapted to beguided longitudinally by said arms, and a head pivotally mounted betweensaid arins and adapted to be engaged by said dog.

2. i wrench comprising a handleprovided with a longitudinal pocket inone end, arms projecting from opposite sides 4of said pocket, one ofsaid arms being integral with said handle, the other arm being hinged tosaid handle, a pivot pin carried by the integral arm and having a recessin one end, a shouldered spring seated in said recess and over whichsaid hinged arm snaps when in a closed position, a spring seated in saidpocket, a dog mounted on said spring and adapted to be guidedlongitudinally by said arms, and a head pivotally mounted between saidarms and adaptedto be engaged by said dog.

3. A wrench comprising a handle provided with. a longitudinal pocket inone end, arms projecting from opposite sides of said pocket, one of saidarms being integral with said handle and the other hinged thereto andprovided with a latehing opening. a pivot pin carried by the integralarin, and with which said hinged arin engages,.a nutengaging headcarried by said pivot pin,

head in various positions relative to said handle. i

4. A wrench comprising a handle provided with a pocket in one end, arinsprojecting from opposite sides of said pocket. one otl said arins beinghinged thereto and provided with a latehing opening, a pivot a latchwhich engages with the opening in the hinged arm, a nut-engaging headcarried by said pivot pin, and a spring-pressed dog seated in saidpocket and guided longitudinallyv by said arms to engage with said head.

wrench comprising a handle, arms i projecting troni. opposite sidesthereof, one ol said arins being hinged thereto and provided with anopening, a pivot pin carried by the other arin and earr \'ing a hitchwhich engages with the opening in the hinged arin, a nut-engaging headcarried by said pivoti pin, and nieans carried b ifv said handle torengaging with said head.

In testimony whereof l hereunto atlix iny signature in presence of twowitnesses.

Witnesses i GEO. B.' WVM/ran, GEORGE M.l IIAn'i.

and a spring-pressed dog for retaining said y pin carried by the otherarm and carri/'ing i

